Natural Hazards and Risk Assessment
Natural Hazards and Risk
Natural hazard is defined as the probability, small or large, that the population of an area suffers damage or disaster resulting from a natural process. Risk is the probability of losing human lives, property, or productive capacity due to any natural phenomenon. Natural hazards are physical phenomena of geological, atmospheric, or hydrologic origin that occur slowly or quickly and affect a territory or area at national, regional, or global levels. Geohazards can be endogenous
Read MoreIntroduction to Astronomy
Planetary System
A planetary system consists of one or several central stars and planets orbiting around them.
- Planets: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune.
- Dwarf Planets: Pluto, Eris, Ceres, Makemake, Orcus, Sedna…
Celestial Motion
- Planets revolve around stars.
- Satellites revolve around planets.
- Comets revolve around the Sun. A comet is a ball of gas and dust with a tail.
- Asteroids orbit within a star system. When entering a planet’s atmosphere, they disintegrate and fall as
Introduction to Geology: Earth’s Structure, Rocks, and Plate Tectonics
Chapter 1: Introduction to Geology
The Development of Geology
- Mid-1600s – James Ussher
- Catastrophism
- Earth’s landscapes shaped primarily by catastrophes
- 1795 – James Hutton
- Uniformitarianism
- The physical, chemical, and biological laws that operate today have operated throughout geologic past
- The present is the key to the past
The Earth system is powered by the Sun, which drives external processes in the:
- Atmosphere
- Hydrosphere
- At Earth’s surface
The Earth system is also powered by Earth’s interior.
- Heat remaining
Waste Treatment and Recycling: Methods and Technologies
Methods of Treatment
Incineration
It’s a garbage collection method that involves combustion of waste at high temperatures. Incineration and other treatment systems at high temperatures are described as heat treatment. Thus, the incineration of waste materials becomes waste heat, gaseous emissions and residual solid ash. Other types of heat treatment include gasification and pyrolysis. Incineration is applied fairly in countries like Japan where land is a scarce resource. Sweden has been a leader in
Read MorePrinciples of Sustainability and Environmental Science
1. Principles of Sustainability
1.1 What are three principles of sustainability?
A. Environmental Science: A study of connections in nature.
- Ecology: Studies relationships between living organisms and their interaction with the environment.
- Environmentalism: A social movement.
B. Nature’s Survival Strategies: Three principles of sustainability.
- Life depends on solar energy.
- Biodiversity provides natural services.
- Chemical/nutrient cycling means there is little waste in nature.
C. Key Components of Sustainability:
Read MoreEcology and Environmental Science: A Comprehensive Guide
Biomes
1. The biome with the greatest species diversity is Rain Forest
2. In North America, in what direction would you usually Have to travel to go from a coniferous forest to a deciduous forest?South/East